Friday, October 06, 2023

Your Will Be Done - What Did I Just Agree To?

I spent the first ten years of my life growing up in a traditional church. Traditional churches have a reputation for following strictly to a liturgy, so strictly that some liturgy almost has a requirement to appear in every single Sunday worship service. One piece of liturgy recited every Sunday contains reciting the Lord’s prayer. Naturally, I learned to memorize the Lord’s prayer, and quite imaginably, anybody who grew in a traditional church (and maybe even some contemporary and charismatic churches) also memorized the Lord’s prayer in the same rote repetition. Sometimes the danger of the rote repetition could result in somebody reciting the Lord’s prayer without really considering the words spoken or their meaning. If carefully considering the meaning of the words, phrases and sentences, someone might hesitate halfway through, where the prayer says, “your will be done.” What exactly is the believer agreeing to when praying “your will be done”? What are the exact terms and conditions the Christian signs off on when praying “your will be done”? Both of those questions deserve further exploring.

Without further ado, I invite you to turn to Matthew 6:9-13, commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s prayer does also appear in Luke 11:2-4, but interesting enough, it does omit a few lines, one of which includes “Your will be done.” Now no one should confuse this omission as Luke rejecting the line, as if he didn’t like it or downright hated it, for Luke does record the line (or something similar) elsewhere. For example, when Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22, Jesus closes the prayer in Luke 22:42 with the line “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” As another example, in Acts 21:14, when the Christians of Caesarea try to convince Paul not to go to Jerusalem, but Paul will not be persuaded by their attempts, they conclude, “Let the will of the Lord be done.” Clearly, Luke has no objection to the line, so why did he omit it? One of the prominent theories suggest that Luke saw the line “your will be done” as redundant repetition of the prior line “your kingdom come.” According to Luke, if God’s kingdom comes, then God’s will is done, and if the Lord’s will is done, then the Lord’s kingdom has come. Matthew, as a Jew writing to Jews, knew that the Old Testament poetry had something called synonymous parallelisms, in which two lines say the exact same thing/idea with similar yet different words in order to emphasis the idea. What Luke saw as redundancy and repetition Matthew saw as emphasis. Therefore, a proper understanding of “your will be done” first requires the proper interpretation of “your kingdom come.”

Throughout the Old Testament, everybody from prophets to priests to poets, yearned for the Messiah to establish his messianic kingdom (1 Chronicles 16:33; Psalms 96:13, 98:9; Isaiah 13:6, 24:23, 26:21, 32:22, 52:7; Joel 2:1; Micah 1:3; Zephaniah 3:15; Zechariah 14:1&9; Malachi 4:5). By praying “your kingdom come,” and likewise, “your will be done,” in the Lord’s prayer, the person praying shares in the same zeal for the Christ to set up his kingdom. This idea of the Messiah establishing his messianic kingdom finds its basis in the Lord’s covenant promises to his covenant people. Praying God’s kingdom come, and similarly, the Lord’s will be done, means to pray that the Lord will fulfill all his covenant promises. Covenant promises he made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; covenant promises he made to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai; and covenant promises he made to David.

Praying “your kingdom come” sounds like an odd request in the greater context of Matthew. Earlier in Matthew 3:2 and 4:17, Jesus announces that the kingdom of God is at hand. Later in Matthew 12:28, Jesus declares that him casting out demons proves that the kingdom of God has come. The problem, however, is that not everybody acknowledges and recognizes it. Jesus will later on illustrate this with a series of parables in Matthew 13, most notably the parable of the mustard seed and yeast, which emphasis the explosive expansion of the kingdom of God in the future. Scholars call this tension the “already-not yet” duality. Therefore, the kingdom in mind in Matthew 6:10 would be the eschatological kingdom, or the kingdom of God established in the new heaven and new earth. As foretold by the prophets, this is when the Lord’s plan for future history comes to full completion. Thus, the prayer asks that this fully realized kingdom comes sooner than later. The goal of the prayer is the future of kingdom of God may be just as real as the present kingdom of God. Just like praying “Hallowed by your name,” the person praying does not ask for the petition to become true, for the statement is already true. Instead, the praying person requests for that future kingdom, which everyone does acknowledges and recognizes. If any direct application arises from this line, the line prays that the disciples of Jesus will faithfully and obedient spread the kingdom of God by living out what Jesus taught, including everything from what they say to what they do.

Therefore, it makes sense to think of praying “your will be done” under the same exact “already-not yet” dichotomy. True disciples of Jesus, who call Jesus their Lord and Savior, already participate in the will of the Lord, but praying “your will be done” asks that everybody will contribute to the will of God across the world. Still, the question remains on what it means to pray “your will be done.”

So what does it mean to pray “Your will be done?”

Praying “your will be done” means the person praying asking God’s plan of salvation to come to full fruition. In 1 Timothy 2:4, Paul writes to Timothy that God” desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Whether your Calvinist and believe this verse only applies to the elect, or if your Arminian and believe that all people means every single person, the truth remains that when people come to the saving knowledge and truth of Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God expands in membership. It only makes sense that the more souls saved, the more souls will contribute to the will of God.

Praying “Your will be done” includes praying the Lord will overthrow the sin that the earth has become enslaved to and returning the world into the very good and sinless creation God originally made. God’s will being done means that he is truly the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, with no other emperor, king, prince or governor competing with him for reign over the earth.

Praying “Your will be done” means for the removal of the sinful. It’s not something we like to think of, but Jesus has promised paradise to his disciples, and it won’t be paradise if evil and wickedness allows for pain and suffering to continue to haunt his followers.

Praying “Your will be done” means, as a disciple of Jesus, learning to submit in humility to the will of God. Throughout the book of Matthew, Jesus correlates the doing the will of the Lord as a marker of a true disciple. According to Matthew 7:21, those who do God’s will are the only ones who call rightfully call God their Lord, or master. In Matthew 12:50, Jesus calls those who do the Father’s Will his brothers, his sisters and mothers. The point of the parable in Matthew 21 is that the true disciple does the Lord’s will. As always, Jesus makes himself the perfect model of a human follower of Jesus by praying he can submit to the will of God, as seen in Matthew 26:42. Therefore, praying “your will be done” becomes an activity of humility and submission. Prayer now becomes a spiritual discipline of aligning the person’s will with the Lord’s will. The believer does not need to pray anything about or for himself or herself, the Christian knows that God has already taken care of sustaining and blessing him or her.

On that note, the cool thing is that the disciples of Jesus testify to already here part of the kingdom of God. While Christians cannot single-handedly usher in the kingdom of God by their own merit, in both preaching the gospel message and living out the kingdom, they proclaim that the kingdom of God is indeed at hand and within grasp. When disciples both preach the gospel and live out the kingdom, it makes the kingdom of God very real here and now. Therefore, when Christians pray “your will be done,” they ask the Father for the strength to be obedient to the calling that they have received. Again, this does not mean that the church will bring out new heaven and new earth themselves, but by living it out here and now, the church testifies to the certainty that Jesus will return and establish his kingdom.

Before diving deep into the last line in Matthew 6:10, a few questions need answering First, does “heaven” refer to God’s throne room, the paradise prepared for his disciples, outer space or the sky, or any place that recognizes Jesus as Savior and Lord? The second question to tackle is whether that last line is “on earth as it is in heaven” or “both in heaven and on earth,” for the Greek could technically translate into both. Third and last, how much of the previous parts of the prayer apply to the last line of Matthew 6:10: just “your will be done,” or “your kingdom come” with it or even the whole prayer up to this point! Theologically speaking, while rebellion can happen in heaven (see Ephesians 6:11&12 and Colossians 1:20), Matthew never depicts heaven containing the slightest bit of opposition to God. Heaven is the Lord’s throne, and from his throne, God rules heaven by his will. The future end goal is, however, that all of creation, both heaven and earth will unite fulfilling the will of God. Everybody and everything will do the will of God. In way, this closing line in Matthew 6:9 paints of picture of this inability to tell the difference between heaven and earth because everyone and everything talks and acts the same way. To conclude, the one praying should pray, “As in heaven, so on earth.”

The last line in Matthew 6:10 further emphasizes this “already-not yet” tension. The angels in heaven already worship Jesus as king, and they already do his will. The goal is to get humanity on earth to act the same way as the angels. The angels in heaven and the humans on earth should share the same priorities and values. Just as the angels in heaven fully, willingly, consistently and joyfully serve and worship Jesus, so should humans on earth fully, willingly, consistently and joyfully worship Jesus. In heaven, all the angels’ lifestyles, practices and traditions, both of a personal and corporate level, conform to the Lord’s standards, but here on earth, they do not. By praying “your will be done,” the person praying wishes that humanity’s lifestyles, practices and traditions, both of a personal and corporate level, will mold to the God’s principles.

When a Christian prays these lines of the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:10, the Christian himself or herself commits to contributing to bringing about the kingdom of God and doing the Lord’s will. After all, throughout history, as seen in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, God has chosen his people to achieve his goals.

Therefore, looking back on all three lines in Matthew 6:10, they all pray for the same thing: that the Lord’s plan of salvation will become the end goal of history. After all, it only makes sense, for the Lord’s kingdom coming to earth and the Lord’s will being done on earth all reflect the character of God, especially his holiness, as stated in Matthew 6:9 “hallowed by your name.” Thus, in a way, whatever the meaning of “your kingdom come” or “you will be done,” the prayer expresses awe at the spectacular plan that God has for the future, A true disciples yearns for earth to become like in regard to God’s kingdom and God’s will, and it has such an excitement that the person praying just wants God to bring it now. David L. Turner puts it best, “Such requests come from one whose hunger for righteousness on earth will not be satisfied with a snack, as it were, but only with the eschatological banquet associated with the age to come (5:6; cf. 8:11).”

God the Father is already King of king and Lord of lords on both earth and heaven (Matthew 11:25), and Jesus, as God the Son, shares in that same role and title (Matthew 28:18). Jesus came to establish his kingdom and his will. Thus, the disciples practice and perform the kingdom of God in both speech and action to correctly respond in demonstrating their anticipating to the fully realized kingdom on the New Heaven and New Earth, which Jesus started while ministering on earth (Matthew 13:37–43; 24:14; 28:20)

Thus, the line “on earth as it is in heaven,” closes out the first half of the Lord’s prayer centering entirely around the Lord and the Lord’s plan. Half of the prayer dedicates itself to sharing its appreciation, awe and wonder at God and God’s plan before asking of any petition.

Therefore, it only makes sense that the rest of the prayer consists of supplications, asking God to provide what the disciples need to bring about the kingdom of God and to live out the will of God. Even so, though, these supplications do not come from a selfish heart. These prayer requestions not only withhold from asking for wealthy possessions or lifestyles of the rich and the famous, they also withhold from requesting a need met, a problem solved or vengeance for a wrongdoing. The humble Christian, who really believes and conforms to the lifestyle expressed in this prayer, realizes he or she has no right to demand any of these things, especially if contradictory to God’s kingdom coming on the Lord’s will being done. Instead, the prayer requests center around the concern for the expanse of the Lord’s kingdom and the Lord’s will. Again, the believer does not have to worry about needs or wants because they know God will take care of it, for it’s part of his kingdom and his will. Thus, the disciples do not look forward to a time when they will leave the earthly plane and escape to heaven, but instead, they look for ways to bring God’s kingdom to earth by doing his will.

One last concluding thought. I like to joke with my Christian friends of other denominations (and I caution others when "joking" about this to other people, for somebody without a sense of humor will find this highly offensive) that "Every Christian is entitled to their church denomination of choice. God has given us that liberty, and God loves us all equally and the same, no matter what church denomination we choose. But when you get to heaven, you'll find we're all Mennonite." (See how that "joke" can easily offend?) With every joke, at least half of it finds its basis in seriousness. With so many other Christian denominations, they read the Sermon on the Mount, which the Lord's Prayer is part of, and they will say of it, "That's a nice ideal to look forward to at the New Heaven and New Earth when Jesus establishes his kingdom on earth, but right here right now on earth, that's not possible in this corrupt, fallen world. In this corrupt, fallen world, we must be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves" (see Matthew 10:16). The Mennonites, however, have rejected that answer. They have chosen something different. They have chosen what other Christian denominations call impossible. The Mennonites have put so much emphasis on kingdom living that they say, "You know what? We believe we don't have waiting for Jesus to establish the New Heaven and New Earth. We believe the Holy Spirit has empowered us to live out the kingdom of God right here and right now." Since the Mennonites do live out the kingdom of God, to the best of their ability, right here and right now, they get experience a little bit of heaven, so when they actually do go to heaven, they know how to live it out, whereas the other denominations might need a little bit more time getting use to things. All in all, what I'm trying to say is that the Mennonites' emphasis on living out God's kingdom come right here and now sets up the Mennonites to live out God's will being done. Let the Mennonites be the witness to the rest of the Christian denominations on what it means to live out the Lord's will be done.

Bibliography

Allen, Willoughby C. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to S. Matthew. International Critical Commentary. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1907.

Barbieri, Louis A., Jr. “Matthew.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.

Blomberg, Craig L. “Matthew.” Holman Concise Bible Commentary. Edited by David S. Dockery. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998.

Blomberg, Craig. Matthew. Vol. 22 of The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992.

Davies, W. D., and Dale C. Allison Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. Vol. 1 of International Critical Commentary. London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004.

France, Richard T. “Matthew.” Pages 904–45 in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition. Edited by D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.

France, Richard T. The Gospel of Matthew. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co., 2007.

Hagner, Donald A. Matthew 1–13. Vol. 33A of Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1993.

Hughes, Robert B., and J. Carl Laney. Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary. The Tyndale Reference Library. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001.

Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.

Nolland, John. The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2005.

Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. St. Matthew. Vol. 1 of The Pulpit Commentary. London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909.

Turner, David L. Matthew. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

Weber, Stuart K. Matthew. Vol. 1 of Holman New Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000.

Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992.

Sunday, May 14, 2023

The Mother of All Living Sermons

I would like to start with a prayer request. I’m not a fan of the unspoken prayer request, but I imagine the person involved in the prayer request would not appreciate strangers knowing about her business, so I will not name any names. Please pray for a friend from quizzing. When I first met her, she was a bright and bubbly Christian. In fact, she joined quizzing because she just wanted to get to know better her Lord and Savior, who she loved so much. The only problem, however, is that her Christian fellowship was a Christian fellowship that thought to hold to certain religious beliefs, you had to hold certain political beliefs, and no true Christian would hold to any political beliefs contrary to what this Christian fellowship believed, which was simply not true. She too did indeed know it was simply not true. Not only did see conflicts between their political beliefs and their religious beliefs, she saw how her differing political views actually correlated better with her religious views, but her Christian fellowship refused to listen. Nevertheless, she sought out a group of friends who would encourage and support her political stances. Unfortunately, this group of friends further verified that indeed her political stances did contradict her religious stances (again, not true), but her political views were correct, and her religious views were incorrect, so she had to abandon her religion to hold stronger to politics. At worst, I worry she’s falling away from the faith, and at least, she’s stunting her spiritual growth. Please pray for my quizzing sister in Christ, that Jesus will keep her strong, that she may be a witness to both her Christian fellowship and her friends, and that I may know how to counsel her through this rough time.

So far, my witness to her is to converse with her on the lies the group of friends have fed her, and one sticks out as peculiar, which fits well into a Mother’s Day sermon. One of the lies told by her friends is that the Bible is misogynist. Merriam-Webster defines misogyny simply as “the hatred of women.” Therefore, a misogynist hates women. Thus, to call the Bible misogynist is to say the Bible hates women. Yes, this is what her friends have claimed about the Bible: The Bible hates women. According to them, at best, the Bible treats women like second-class citizens, at worst, the Bible treats women like slaves, property to be bought, sold, and traded, so why would any self-respecting woman read the Bible? It would not surprise if so many Christian, both brothers and sisters in Christ, have heard this argument. So, while the best thing to do is pray for my quizzing sister in Christ, the next best thing to do is talk about how you can combat this lie.

Of course, there are some easy, low-hanging fruits we can go to for easy retorts. Turn to the book of Judges, turn to the fourth chapter, and read about Deborah, a prophetess, or a female prophet, who takes reign of the army of Israel when Barak refuses to do so, and she leads Israel to victory of Canaan. Turn to the book of Esther and read how the Jewish girl Hadassah becomes Esther queen of Persia, and she uses whatever little power she has to save her people from genocide across the empire. These women are hardly second-class citizens or slaves. If this is too Old Testament for you, the New Testament has lesser known but more important examples. Turn to Romans 16:1 and read how Phoebe was a deaconess. Yes, I know that can translate into “servant,” but the Greek term διάκονος (diakonos) is literally where the English word “deacon” come from, so I will be brave to enough to say, I think English Bible translations who translate it into “servant” instead of “deacon” do so to avoid alienation from the churches who have a hard stance against women leadership in church. Turn to Colossians 4:15 and read how Nympha had a church meet in her house. Yes, while “church in her house” can simply just mean she hosted a church, a lot of scholars now agree a person hosted a church because that person led the church (cf. Acts 16:15&40). Both the Old Testament and the New Testament praise women in leadership, which highly contests the notion that the Bible makes women second-class citizens or slaves.

Of course, like I’ve said, that’s easy, low-hanging fruit. Graham doesn’t do easy, low-hanging fruit; Graham does hard, high-hanging fruit. What is the high-hanging fruit of this topic? Let’s a pick a woman from the Bible that opponents of the Bible would use to prove that the Bible is misogynist. What a better character than Eve! How fitting for Mother’s Day, for the name Eve means “mother of all living,” so she everybody’s mother. I have heard some wild accusations of the Bible about Eve, and maybe you’ve even heard crazy ones yourself. Some say, “Eve is created second, making her secondary to man!” Others will say, “Eve is created differently, making Eve a lesser human!” Still other will complain, “Eve is blamed for the fall of man, and Eve is punished unreasonably harshly.” Those who oppose the Bible with these comments truly have never read the Bible themselves, for those who have read the Bible should see that, not only are all these statements false, but the Bible goes out of its way to teach the opposite.

 


Without further ado, please turn to the book of Genesis. As you turn there (like it would take anyone a long time, unless your Bible has a massive introduction and/or preface), let me point out that, from the onset, since an account of woman’s creation even exists in the Bible, the Bible cannot be misogynist. Comparing the Bible with ancient creation myths around the world will reveal the Bible is in the minority just solely in the fact it records the how woman became living human. A majority of ancient creation myths do not record any story about the creation of the woman; only a minority of the ancient creation myths do. Some have tried to justify this by declaring that the creation of woman is assumed alongside the creation of man, but others rightfully state that the ancient creation myths without retelling the creation of women subtly hint that the world has no need for women.

 


The minority of ancient creation myths that do mention the creation of women have a habit of putting the creation of women in a negative light. For example, look no further than the famous Greek myth of Pandora’s Box. According to the Ancient Greeks, the myth takes place during the Golden Age, when there were just men (and no women), when technology rapidly advanced, when no man had any want or need because man shared all resources equally, and man had no enemies or foes…except Zeus. See, with the help of Prometheus, the Greek titan Zeus assigned to creating men, men had tricked Zeus into accepting offering of bones instead of the fat of the meats, and men had stolen fire, sacred to the gods. Now Zeus had already punished Prometheus by chaining him to a mountain and having an eagle eat his liver daily. As for man, however, Zeus thought man had it going too well, so he wanted unleash sorrow and suffering onto them. Fortunately, he had a jar (yes, you heard me right: jar. Apparently, Erasmus mistranslated it during medieval times, and nobody ever bothered to correct him. Since, however, everybody is used to calling it a box, I will continue to call it a box.) that held sorrows and suffering. Unfortunately, Zeus could not open it on man, or else the suffering and sorrows would come back on him. Furthermore, men were on edge because Prometheus warned them not to take anything from Zeus, so men could not easily be tricked. Therefore, Zeus decided to try creating a human himself, and this human would become the first women. Zeus got all the gods involved. For example. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, to make her beautiful. As another example, Hermes, the messenger god, taught her an eloquent tongue to speak well. Hence, her name was Pandora, meaning “all endowed” or “all gifted.” Finally, Zeus gave her 2 gifts: the gift of curiosity and the gift of the box full of sorrows and suffering. Zeus told Pandora, “Don’t open the box, for no mortal should look on it,” conveniently leaving out what is in the box. Well, a box with unknown contents and a curious woman are a bad combination, and it is only a matter of time before Pandora opens the box and unleashes the curse of sorrows and suffering on man. The moral of the story seems to be, “Darn those women and their curiosity! If it wasn’t for woman’s curiosity, humanity would be cursed with suffering!” Now at this point, one may think, “Well, that may explain why women suffer, but it does not explain the suffering of men because a woman opened the box, not a man.” That’s right! What you heard was the more famous, rated G version of the story. There’s an alternative, rated R, version of the story in which Pandora says to men, “Hey, if you can open this jar for me (maybe this is where the stereotype of the woman not able to open the pickle jar comes from), I’ll do anything with you,” to which the men say, “Anything?” and Pandora replies, “Anything!” Yes, that’s exactly what you think it means. This is worse! At least with the former legend, curiosity just got the best of Pandora. In this myth, Pandora actively seduces man to bring curses upon humanity. The clear moral of this story is, “Beware of women! They will use the sexuality to seduce you and to curse you, which will always bring sorrow and suffering!” Now the reason for man’s suffering falls less on the contents of the box/jar and more on the woman herself. Why do men seek to become richer, so much so that they will make other men poor in the process? To impress women, of course! Why do men seek to become the most powerful kings and emperors, to the point of enslaving other men? So, they can marry any woman they want, of course! Now that’s a sexist and misogynist origin story! As stated earlier, and pointed out now, many ancient myths do not mention the creation of the woman, and those that do, a lot of them mention the creation of woman as a negative thing. The Bible, however, does mention the creation of the woman, and as will be drawn out soon, the Bible puts the creation of woman in a positive light.

Let’s dive into the actual text. The meat of the text will come from Genesis 2, but the trip to Genesis 2 requires a pitstop in Genesis. For those unfamiliar with the book of Genesis, Genesis has 2 creations accounts. Commentators have different explanations on why, with some more blasphemous or heretical others. Personally, I believe Genesis records 2 different creation narratives because it tells the same story from different perspectives. Genesis 1 talks about the creation from God’s point of view, as God lays out an organized plan to bring order to the chaos. Genesis 2 tells the creation story from the human’s point of view, as God creates the perfect habitat around man. Since Genesis 2 comes from the human’s point of view, most of the theology about woman will come from Genesis 2, but Genesis 1 does have an important fact worth noting.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ~Genesis 1:27 (ESV)

While so much can come out from this verse, pertinent to this study, three words need extra highlighting. The “man” in “So God created man in his own image” is the Hebrew term אָדָם (adam). Now the “man” here in אָדָם (adam) is short for “human,” which is short for “human being.” The last line of the verse states that God created them זָכָר (zāḵār) and נְקֵבָה (neqēḇāh). Most, if not all, Bibles translate the two Hebrew words as “male” and “female,” and rightfully so. Unfortunately, some people living in the 21st century insist that that gender and sex are not interchangeable, and they also insist that gender is a social construct (which I actually understand to extent). Therefore, I must state this bluntly: a זָכָר (zāḵār) has a penis, and a נְקֵבָה (neqēḇāh) has a vagina. For proof, look further than a few chapters later. In Genesis 6&7, the Lord commands Noah to bring animals in the ark, זָכָר (zāḵār) and נְקֵבָה (neqēḇāh), with the clear intentions for them to multiply and fill the earth after the flood. There is no way around it and for good reason. In this one little verse in Genesis 1:27, God warns the reader, “Alright, when you go into the next chapter, you will discover that I created the woman after the man, and you will also find out that I created the woman in a different manner. This does not make her more or less in the image of God. The woman is equally made in the image of God.” Thus, the theology taught about the woman from Genesis 1:27 is that the woman was equally made in the image of God. Now let’s advance to meat of the creation story of the woman.

Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. ~Genesis 2:19&20 (ESV)

Although the text does not paint the most vivid picture, it has enough description to imagine what happened here. (Disclaimer: what you read in the remainder of the paragraph consists of nothing original, as the rest of the paragraph contains bits and pieces I have picked up from pastors and comedians alike.) The Lord says to Adam, “Okay, here’s the deal, I’m going to bring these animals to you one by one, and whatever you want to name them, that’s its name. Seriously, the first thing that comes to your mind, that’s its name.” Adam responds, “Okay, no problem, I got this.” God brings in the first in the first animal, “Alright, Adam, I got this animal. It's one of the larger animals. It’s gray. It’s got a big jaw. It likes being in the water. What are we calling it?” Adam announces, “Hippopotamus!” Picture a stenographer angel off to the side, asking “How do you want me to spell that?” The Lord tells the angel, “Oh, just sound it out.” Then God turns to Adam and says, “Okay, I’m bringing in the next animal. This animal is also one of the large ones, and it’s gray, too. This one, however, has a horn. What’s its name?” Adam is now starting to get in the groove, and he declares, “Rhinoceros!” The poor stenographer angel is mumbling under his breath, “Wow, seriously, where did he get this guy?” Unfortunately, as time passes, and as the animals get smaller, Adam is getting tired, and not one creative idea is left. “Alright, Adam,” the Lord tells Adam, “Here’s the next one. What its name?” Adam replies, “Dog?” God is like, “Hey, that’s just my name backwards…never mind, whatever, here’s the next one, Adam. What’s its name?” Adam sighs and states its name, “Cat?” God is like, “Oh, hey, wait, I didn’t make one of those…” (Just joking! Just kidding! Just playing! I own a cat, and I love my cat!) If you think that’s bad, it got worse when it came time to name insects! The Lord asks Adam, “Hey Adam, what are we calling that insect hopping along the grass?” Adam takes a big sigh and announces, “Grasshopper.” God proceeds, “Okay…well, what are we naming that insect flying around that animal you named a horse?” Adam takes a deeper sigher and declares, “Horsefly.” At this point, the Lord probably told Adam, “Let’s take a break, before you name all the fishes swims…”

In all seriousness, though, something has to be going on here, for the naming of animals interrupts the creation of the woman. Imagine that the Lord is not merely brining Adam the animals to name one by one, but rather, picture God bring Adam the animals two by two. Not only does Adam name the animal species, but he also gives names to both the males and the females. (I apologize in advance, for I am neither a zoologist nor a farmer, so I will probably butcher this, but you should still understand the illustration.) Imagine Adam saying, “Alright, this animal species we shall call a horse, which the males we will call stallions, and the females we will call mares.” Picture Adam stating, “This animal we will name bovine, which we will name the males bulls and the females cows.” Imagine Adam announcing, “This animal species we shall call pig, which the males we will call boars, and the females sows.” Picture Adam declaring, “The animal we will name a chicken, which the males will be named roosters, and the females hens.” As Adam goes through the process, he comes to a realization. He must have realized, “I’m a אָדָם (adam), or a human being, and the זָכָר (zāḵār)/male human is a אִישׁ (ʾîš), then where is the נְקֵבָה (neqēḇāh)/female human being?”


All of a sudden, Adam becomes sad. All of a sudden, the reader (and maybe the original audience of the Israelites? And maybe the angels watching Yahweh create?) panics! In Genesis 1, with every day of creation, God announces the day’s creation was טוֹב (tov), or “good.” In fact, when the Lord overlooks everything that he created, he declares the creation ט֖וֹב מְאֹ֑ד (tov meod), or “very good.” For the first time in the Scriptures, located right in Genesis 2:18, the Lord has to state that something as לֹא־ט֛וֹב (lo-tov), or “not good,” and it’s the fact the man is alone. How can the very good creation, the perfect habitat for humanity, have something that is not good? Indeed, a good reason to panic! Before anyone can panic, God makes known that he has a plan.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” ~Genesis 2:18 (ESV)

In the Hebrew, Yahweh announces that he will make a עֵ֖זֶר כְּנֶגְדֹּֽו (ʿēzěr keněḡěḏo) for man. Depending on your English Bible translation, the עֵ֖זֶר כְּנֶגְדֹּֽו (ʿēzěr keněḡěḏo)  will translate into “helper suitable for him” (NASB), “helper fit for him” (ESV & RSV), “help meet for him” (KJV), “helper comparable to him” (NKJV), “helper as his complement” (CSB), “helper as his partner” (NRSV), “helper suitable for him” (NIV, both 1984 and 2011 editions) or “helper who is just right for him” (NLT). The כְּנֶגְדֹּֽו (keněḡěḏo) part literally translate into “like what is in front of him.” Most commentators equate this to mean “corresponding to him” or “alongside him,” but I would even equate it to mean “equal to him” or “similar to him.” More interesting, however, is the עֵ֖זֶר (ʿēzěr). From the root עֵ֖זֶר (ʿēzěr) comes the name Ezra, but most often עֵ֖זֶר (ʿēzěr) does not refer to a human, but it refers to the Lord himself! In Exodus 18:4, when Moses recognizes how God freed the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery, Moses calls Yahweh an עֵ֖זֶר (ʿēzěr). David names the Lord an עֵ֖זֶר (ʿēzěr) whenever David escapes from his enemies or wins victoriously over his enemies (see Psalms 20:2, 70:5, 89:19, 121:1&2, 124:8 and 146:5). Between Moses and David, the common denominator lies within the fact that God has brought salvation or deliverance, thus making Yahweh a savior or deliver. This makes sense because the verb form of עֵ֖זֶר (ʿēzěr) is עָזַר (ʿāzar). The verb עָזַר (ʿāzar) means “to deliver from death” or “to save from danger.” Therefore, עֵ֖זֶר (ʿēzěr) could translate “savior.” Thus, the Lord declares here that he will make “a savior equal to him.”

My sisters in Christ, especially the wives and mothers out there, I am going to give you some fuel to the fire on this Mother’s Day. I imagine as the good Christian couples you are, you two don’t get into any fights, or arguments, or even debates 😉. You just sometimes get into some “intense discussions” 😉. Ladies, next time you find yourself in one of these “intense discussions” with your boyfriend, fiancé, or husband, if he starts getting a little mouthy with you, you snap back and say, “Hey! Remember I am your savior! There you were in your singleness! You were eating canned food and frozen meals because you couldn’t cook. Your living quarters were a pigsty! Your fashion sense so out of whack it was embarrassing to just stand around you! You had to get down on one knee and beg me to marry you, and you even had to bribe me with a diamond ring! You do not talk to your savior like that!” Now my brothers in Christ, I can imagine what you’re thinking. You are probably thinking to yourself, “Well, my girlfriend/fiancée/wife is not the perfectly sinless Son of God like my true savior is.” That’s true, you’re right, your girlfriend/fiancée/wife is not the perfectly sinless Son of God (sorry, ladies, you’re not getting away with that, even on Mother’s Day). I would also imagine, however, that Christ’s will for your life is not always how you wanted to go. I imagine you may have vented your frustration to Jesus. After all, if prayer is simply communicating with God, you may have prayed or communicated with God your frustrations. In venting your frustrations, however, you probably never used foul language, you probably never name called, you probably never used put downs or talked down, you probably never resorted to logical fallacies. In the same way, your girlfriend/fiancée/wife does not deserve foul language, name calling, put downs, belittling or logical fallacies in your “intense discussion.” If anybody gets anything out of this point, remember God created the woman to be your savior, so boyfriends and husbands, thank your girlfriend or wife for something that she saved you from, whether that be from loneliness, failure, lack, processed meals, a dirty home, or an out of whack fashion sense.

 


21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. ~Genesis 2:21-25 (ESV)

According to Genesis 2:21 in the Hebrew Bible, Yahweh created the woman by taking man’s צֵלָע (ṣēlāʿ), which better translates into “side.” Quite possibly, somewhere along the translation line, somebody saw that the Hebrew manuscript said “side,” looked at the human anatomy, wonder to himself, “Now what side organ could the Lord have used to create the woman?” and from that he somehow concluded “rib,” which tradition just stuck with, even until now. Personally, I like to think this is the first recorded kidney transplant. I know some Christians still refuse organ transplants, claiming an organ transplant runs contrary to the Christian faith, but such an argument falls flat when God himself performs an organ transplant. Ultimately, the argument over which organ Yahweh used has no importance, for the symbolism carries the significance of the Lord making the woman out of the man’s side. Now I am going to do something I don’t quite often do: quote Matthew Henry. See, Matthew Henry is like a Nintendo 64: it was really great in its date, but now, it’s incredibly out of date and looks bad. This quote from Matthew Henry, however, has aged quite gracefully. In his commentary on Genesis 2:21-25, Matthew Henry comments, “the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” Everybody can let out an “aww” right now. Cuteness aside, Matthew Henry hits on an important part. Even the body part the Lord chose to make the woman out of reflects the woman’s equal status to man.

 

Matthew Henry

Genesis 2:22 records that God brought the woman to the man, just like he did with the animals. The text invites the reader to imagine Yahweh approaching the just awoken Adam, saying in a sing-song voice, “Oh Adam, I have someone else for you to name…” and Adam begins, “Oh come on, Lord, I just woke up, can’t you give me just a bit more time, I just need…” but then Adam sees God’s newest creation and says, “Woah man!” Yes, I couldn’t resist, but there’s a point to that, which will become apparent soon.

At this point in Genesis 2:23, the narrative prose stops and poetry begins. The shift in writing style probably intended to highlight the creation of the woman. The first word to come out of Adam’s mouth is הַפַּ֗עַם (hapǎǎm), or “at last” or “finally,” pointing back to conflict of Adam not finding his equivalent when naming the animals. Adam’s first comments observe how the woman has the bone and flesh and he does. On the surface level, by doing so, Adam observes that Yahweh has made the woman out of the same stuff as him, which already makes her his equal. This is why I included Genesis 2:25 as part of the Scripture. Because both are naked, Adam can clearly see different body parts, yet he states she is made of the same stuff. In Hebrew poetry, however, bones typically symbolize strength, and flesh typically symbolize weakness. Therefore, Adam’s comments observe how the woman shares in the same strengths and weaknesses as he does, further emphasizing the equality. Even more to the point, the ancient Hebrews used the phrase “my own flesh and bones” like modern English-speakers say, “my own flesh and blood.” The saying emphasizes a relationship, even more further highlighting equality.

To cap everything off, Adam names the Lord’s newest creation “woman,” or in the Hebrew text אִשָּׁה (ʾiššā). The Hebrew term for “man” (as in male human) is אִישׁ (ʾīš), and now the Hebrew word for “woman” (as in female human) is אִשָּׁה (ʾiššā). Even without knowing the Hebrew language, anybody can see the terms are remarkably similar, almost the exact same word, with the exception of the extra letter in the end. In fact, this will become a pattern in the Hebrew language, for most, if not all, of the female animal names will simply be the male animal names with a hey at the end. For example, for horses, the male stallion Hebrew is סוּס (sûs), and the female mare is סוּסָה (sûsāh). Even in the naming of the woman reflects the similarity of the woman to the man, almost the same, which displays her equality.

 

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

       “Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

       on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

15    I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

       he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

       “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

       Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,

but he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said,

       “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

       of which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

       cursed is the ground because of you;

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

18    thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

19    By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread,

       till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

       for you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.”

~Genesis 3:14-19 (ESV)

 

While I want to focus in on Yahweh conversing with the woman, I put the Lord’s whole dialogue here, in the hopes of seeing a pattern and a lack thereof. Note how God never explicitly curses the woman. Literally, the term “curse,” or אָרַר (ʾārǎr) in the Hebrew text only applies to the serpent (3:14) and the ground (3;17). Notice how Yahweh’s speech the serpent and to Adam begins with “because you…” but the Lord omits this beginning when talking to the woman. Between these two observations, it would seem that what God tells the woman falls more under descriptive than prescriptive. In order words, Yahweh does not actively penalize the woman here, but rather, the Lord passively reminds the woman that sin has its consequences, God makes her fully aware of those consequences. In all fairness to the woman, the serpent deceived the woman, whereas the serpent and the men deliberately rebelled in their sin, as evident by their punishment starting with “because you…”

A lot could be said about Yahweh announcing a multiplication of the woman’s pain in childbearing, but more pertinent to our point about the misogyny entering the world as a result of the fall, Genesis 3:16b deserves more examination. The key words in Genesis 3:16b are תְּשׁוּקָה (tešûqāh) and מָשַׁל (māšǎl). Now תְּשׁוּקָה (tešûqāh) is an exceedingly rare word in the Hebrew Old Testament, only appearing three times. The first one appears here in Genesis 3:16b. The last one happens in Song of Solomon 7:10, in which, ironically, the man desires the woman, as opposed to Genesis 3:16b, in which the woman desires the man. The middle instance occurs in Genesis 4:7, and this instance also pairs with מָשַׁל (māšǎl). In Genesis 4:7, the Lord informs Cain of what sin wants to do to him. Just as mankind and sin find themselves in a constant struggle of control, as evident by Genesis 4:7, so the man and the woman will find themselves in constant struggle of dominating and submitting, as evident by Genesis 3:16b. What Yahweh intended to become an equal relationship, sin would make a power struggle of dominance and submission. What the Lord intended to become “to love and to cherish” became “to dominate and to submit.” What God intended for reciprocal love would turn into marital stress and strain. Some have used their verse to explain why, even in the most patriarchal societies, despite a woman’s craving for independence, she would still succumb to a marriage. Other have even gone as far as using this verse to explain why some women will still stay with the most abusive husbands. Either way, even if these points are true, the truth remains that sexism, misogyny and patriarchy are the result of evil sin infiltrating Yahweh’s good creation.

The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living ~Genesis 3:20 (ESV).

 Scholars could and have said much about the name of Eve. Without diving too much in the Hebrew language, a few things deserve pointing out for the name Eve. First, note that the Hebrew name for Eve, חַוָּ֑ה (havvah), looks nothing like the Hebrew term for humans, אָדָם (adam), or the Hebrew word for man, אִישׁ (ʾîš). Already, the sinful nature has begun taking over Adam, and he has already begun distancing himself from Eve. Second, notice how Eve’s name means “mother of all living.” No longer is the woman “a savior equal to him,” but rather, Adam sees Eve as just “the mother of his children.” Ouch! Again, the sinful nature in Adam desires to distance himself from Eve. Together they reveal that, when Adam names the woman Eve, he treats her no differently than when he named the animals, asserting his dominance over the woman, demanding her submissiveness. Once again, the sexism, misogyny and patriarchy came about as a product of humanity’s fall into sin.

Not only does Genesis 3 not direct the primary blame for the Fall upon the woman Eve, the whole Bible does not direct the primary blame for the Fall, especially including the New Testament. Take a look at a couple New Testament verses-

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. ~Romans 5:12-14 (ESV)

21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ~1 Corinthians 15:22&23 (ESV)

Note how both Scriptures don’t say “the woman” or “Eve.” Notice how both passages don’t even say “the man and the woman” or “Adam and Eve.” Both Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 merely put the blame of sin and death on the man, on Adam. The idea of woman solely bringing sin, death, sorrows and suffering into the world would make sense to either the Old Testament Jew or the New Testament Christian.

Before closing, let me briefly touch on some objections some may have, but please note that these 2 exceptions I will bring up deserve a close and thorough examination, each on their own.

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God…For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. ~1 Corinthians 11:3,7-12 (ESV)

Please recall that the epistles are highly contextualized. Paul writes to a certain people at a certain place at a certain time, to address occasions that may arise out of that historical, geographical and cultural. In 1 Corinthians 11:3, the Greek term κεφαλή (kephalē) literally means “head,” but figurately it means “authority” or “source.” I prefer the latter because then 1 Corinthians 11:3 points back to Genesis 2:21&22. 1 Corinthians 10:7 reminds the reader that Paul wants to address why he believes men should prayer and prophesy with heads uncovered, while women should pray and prophesy with their heads covered. A cult in Corinth allowed women to pray with their heads uncovered, which would sometimes come off as sexual. Paul did not want the new and budding church in Corinth to get mixed with the cult. Paul’s command here for women to cover their heads intended to distance the church from the cult, and also quite possibly prevent women from becoming a sexual distraction in the Christian church. The idea of woman becoming the glory of man does not put her is a submissive or servient role. To the contrary, the woman received glory by giving glory to her husband. If anything, Paul presents giving glory to the husband as another opportunity women could give glory to God. Paul recollects the creation of the woman in Genesis 2 to remind the Christian women in Corinth how God created the women to turn something not good to something good in the very good creation, and likewise, Paul calls on the women to serve God in the same exact way.

12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. ~1 Timothy 2:12-15 (ESV)

Again, please recall that the epistles are highly contextualized. Paul writes to a certain people at a certain place at a certain time, to address occasions that may arise out of that historical, geographical and cultural. When Timothy takes over the church in Ephesus, a heresy known as Gnosticism became quite popular. Gnosticism loved combining Greek and Roman philosophy with Jewish, and sometimes Christian, religion. Mixed in with all the heresy, Gnosticism at this time proclaimed a liberation and empowering of women. Paul did not necessarily oppose the liberation and empowering of women. Rather, he feared that message would lure in good Christian women, who would buy into the heresy just to get a taste of the liberation and empowerment, and then these women would proclaim the heresies back at the church. In other words, Paul feared that Gnosticism would deceive the good Christian women of Ephesus, hence why Paul emphasizes how Eve got deceived. At the current time, as the best advice Paul could think up, he advised Timothy to put hiatus on women teaching, until the church could determine the women remain uninfluenced by any heresy. Likewise, a church should only hold back on a woman preaching or teaching if they fear she will preach or teach heresy from the pulpit. Otherwise, let her preach and teach!

To conclude, anybody who claims the Bible is misogynist lies. First, while so many creation myth lack a creation of woman story, and for those that do, a lot of them put the creation of the woman in a negative light. To the contrary, the Bible does have a creation of woman story, and it does put it in a positive light. Second, the Bible clearly announces the man and the woman equally made in the image of God. Third, the Lord makes the woman with the intention that woman will become “ a savior equal” to man. Fourth, by calling her “woman,” man identifies his sameness and equality to her. Fifth, because of the lack of “because you” or “cursed” in the woman’s penalty, Yahweh deflect putting all the blame on the woman for the fall. Sixth, not until after the Fall of humanity into sin does Adam assert his dominance by naming her Eve. On this Mother’s Day, women thank the Lord for creating you the way he did, and men, thank God for putting the women, whether mother, aunts, sisters, cousins, wives, sisters or friends, into your life to serve as your “savior.”

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

You Ain't Been Nothing Yet (Exodus 3:1-4:17)

 Imagine, if you will, you just lost your job, which for some of you, may be one of the worst thing that could happen to you. You may have been fired, you might have quit (for whatever reason), or quite possibly, the company went bankrupt and had to go out of business. Despite for income to keep your family alive and yourself alive, you march down to your local temp agency and take whatever job they have available. It doesn’t take you too long into your new job to figure out that you’re doing the job nobody wants to do, and you’re getting paid just above minimum wage to do it. Nevertheless, you’re grateful you have a job, and you’re doing the best you can at it. One day, you see a man dressed in a fine Italian suit walking around the workplace. Based on the way he’s dressed, you deduced he must have some important role in the business. After observing you work, he walks up to you and says, “I’m the president and CEO of this company. I like you. I like the work you’re doing. I found out you’re a temp employee. I would like to hire you full-time. I’ll make sure you get a more important role at this company, and of course, that will come with the pay and benefits all our other employees get.” That’s good! You quickly take up the offer. Some time passes, and the president and CEO makes another visit. He watches you work again, and he approaches you again, saying, “I like you, and I like your work. How about we promote you to shift supervisor? You’ll get all the pay and benefits of a supervisor.” That’s great! You accept the offer.” Some more time passes, and the president and CEO visits again. Again, he observes your work, and again he approaches you, “I like you, and I like the work you’re doing. This site needs an assistant manager. Will you take the promotion if I give you a raise?” That’s amazing! Yes, of course, you’ll do it. More time passes, and once again, the president and CEO visits. He watches you work, and he’s impressed. At the end of the day, he says to you, “I like you, and I like the work you’re doing. I’m about to promote the manager here. Would you like to take his place as the new manager? I promise you a manager’s salary and a manager’s benefits.” That’s awesome! Of course, you take the promotion. Little by little, every time you meet, you get a promotion with every meeting. Before you know it, you’re on the board of trustees. You’re a chairman. You’re actively involved in the major business decisions. You got a paycheck the size of a board officer. As a matter of fact, you’re one of the highest paid employees in the entire company! You soon realize, however, something more is happening here. Every time the president and CEO goes somewhere, he seems to invite you, and not just for business. Every time he goes golfing, he calls you up to see if you can join him. Every time he goes to the batting cages, he invites you. If he goes to the movie theatre, he gives you a call to see if you also want to watch the movie. If he plans on going to lunch at a fancy restaurant, he stops by your office to say, “Come with me to lunch. I’m buying.” He’s even inviting you to his family reunions! You finally realize what is happening here: you’re not just the boss’s employee, you’re the boss’s friend!

As odd or strange of an illustration this may seem, I think this is exactly what is happening to Moses in the Scripture we will be looking at right now. Not only if Moses working for God, but he’s also God’s friend. If you don’t mind, please turn to Exodus 3 in your Bibles. While you’re turning to Exodus 2, let me quickly brush everybody up on what has happened in the first two chapters of Exodus.

Exodus 1 begins right where Genesis left our main characters. Jacob, his eleven other sons, and their families go down to Egypt to settle down with Joseph. There they are fruitful and multiply. The chapter shifts, however, when it informs the audience that a new Pharaoh has come to power. Here I emphasize the adjective new, for many scholars believe that this is not merely a new king but also a new dynasty. If scholars have aligned their biblical history with their Egyptian history, Joseph rises to power in Egypt’s ranks during the Hyksos dynasty in Egypt. What separates the Hyksos dynasty from the other Egyptian dynasty is that the Hyksos are not full pure-blood Egyptians, but rather, they are Semite in nature. So when the Hyksos Pharaoh, a Semite, sees Joseph, a fellow Semite, interpret his dreams warning of famine, and Joseph has a plan, the Hyksos Pharaoh is more than glad to listen to Joseph and follow Joseph’s instructions. When this new king of Egypt from a new dynasty comes into power, he does not feel the same way. You can almost paraphrase the words of the Pharaoh in Exodus 1 saying (please stop me if you’ve heard this one before), “Egypt is for Egyptians. You know what’s ruining Egypt? Foreigners. Immigrants. If Egyptians are going to make Egypt great again, we got to stop giving these hand-outs to these minority groups. These foreigners and immigrants are going to serve us, not the other way around, or else they will die.” This Pharaoh’s first attempt to control the Israelites is to enslave them from sunrise to sunset every day of the week. After all, you can’t reproduce if you’re too busy and too tired to reproduce. When that doesn’t stop the Israelites from being fruitful and multiplying, the new Pharaoh takes an active role by decreeing that the baby boys must be killed. At first, he attempts to command the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah to do it, but when they make excuses why they can’t do it (ultimately because they fear God), Pharaoh has to instruct his own people to spot out the infant males and throw them into the Nile. Exodus 1 concludes by portraying this Pharaoh as a very evil, sinful and wicked man. He hates foreigners and immigrants so much that he's killing their newborn males as soon as they come out of the womb, which is just as bad as killing the baby while still inside the womb (Happy Sanctity of Life Sunday everybody).

Exodus 2 starts with the origin story of Moses. A Levite woman, whom the Scriptures will later on call Jochebed, gives birth to a son. Everyone should appreciate here how Jochebed technically follows the Pharaoh’s ordinance. She does indeed throw her son into the Nile, but it just so happens that she throws her son into the Nile in a waterproof basket. Speaking of the phrase “just so happens,” the phrase fits for the remainder of the first half of the chapter. It just so happens that the basket floats down to one of Pharaoh’s daughters bathing. It just so happens Jochebed’s daughter, the baby’s sister, whom the Scriptures will later on call Miriam, who carefully watched over the baby in the basket, suggests getting a nurse for the baby, and it just so happens that the nurse Pharaoh’s daughter selects is the baby’s biological mother. Of course, believers know all this “so just happens” can be credited to God’s providence. Combining Exodus 2:9&10 with Acts 7:20-22, the Bible teaches that Moses grew up, raised as both Hebrew and Egyptian. On one end, Moses knows his heritage, but on the other end, God equips Moses to become a leader through his Egyptian education.

The second half of Exodus 2 jumps ahead to when Moses is 40 years old (again, thanks to Acts 7:23). As an Egyptian prince, he’s overseeing the Egyptian taskmasters, and he notices one Egyptian taskmaster becoming a bit too brutal to a Hebrew slave. At this split second, Moses’s Hebrew side overcomes his Egyptian side, he sides with the Hebrew over the Egyptian, and he kills the Egyptian taskmaster. By the next day, not only does the gossip reach back to Moses, the rumors reach Pharaoh, who know wants Moses dead. Moses has no other choice but to flee from Egypt to Midian, where he becomes a Midianite shepherd. Midian holds significant importance to the story. When it comes to the story of Abraham, everybody remembers Abraham and Sarah, sometimes some people can recall Abraham and Hagar, but rarely do people remember Abraham and Keturah. After Sarah dies, Abraham remarries to a woman named Keturah. They have 6 sons together, one of which has the name Midian. Of course, Midian is the forefather of the Midianites. Therefore, the Midianites, from Abraham, have a somewhat knowledge of the one true God. In fact, Moses’s father-in-law, Reuel or Jethro, serves as a priest of this one true God.

By Exodus 3, Moses has spent the first 40 years of his life as an Egyptian prince, the middle 40 years as an Midianite shepherd, and now God will prepare him to spend the last 40 years of his life as an Israelite leader.

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. ~Exodus 3:1-6



The Bible tells us that Moses went to the far side of the desert or the west side of wilderness until he came to Horeb, or Sinai. Now at this point, you may be wondering, “Well is it the far side or the west side?” and the answer is yes! Aligning the geography of the area with the Hebrew text, scholars have deduced the last west of Horeb is prime pasturing land for sheep. The only problem is that this piece of land is far away from the center of the Midian territory. Therefore, it is probably land that Midian shepherds only went to if there was nothing for the sheep to graze on locally, but they knew if they made the trek there, it would always be worth it because of the prime pasturing land. Thus, in Moses’s 40 years as a Midian shepherd, Moses did not go there often, but he probably went there enough to become familiar with the land. This time, however, something special would happen. While there, Moses sees a bush, which appears on fire. At such high elevations, since lighting likes the fastest way down, naturally, lighting would strike the plant life, causing fires. Now obviously, at this time, there’s no Smoky the Bear, so Moses does not know only he can prevent forest fires. Instead, the first thought that comes to his mind is “Gee, I wonder how long it will take the bush to burn to the ground into a smoldering pile of ash. When the bush does not burn into that smoldering pile of ash, Moses knows something out of the ordinary occurs here. This is not natural, so it must be supernatural. Moses must take a closer look. When Moses approaches closes enough to hear, God calls out to Moses from the bush, and he makes his presence known and the presence of holy ground known. Again, Moses has come enough to this land. Has Moses been on holy ground all his life and not known? What makes it holy ground? Moses having an encounter with God made it holy ground. That’s what makes any ground holy ground. You may have read your Bible passages and wished to yourself, “Oh, I wish I could be on holy ground!” Guess what? You have! Any time you’ve had an encounter with God, you’ve been on holy ground. Now the question remains “When you have encounter with God, do you recognize it as holy ground, and do you treat it as such?” Moses recognized he stood on holy ground, and he responded accordingly. He takes off his sandals, and he hides his face. By doing show, Moses shows God, respect, humility and servitude. Moses here shows us an example of how to respond to holy ground. You may not need to take off your shoes or cover your face, but whatever you choose to do, it must show God respect, humility and servitude.

7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. ~Exodus 3:7-10

2 key points to look out for right here. First, to quote the closing words of Exodus 2, God knew. God did not forget about the people of Israel suffering. God not ignore the people of Israel crying out because of their oppression.  God simply says, “I know my people are oppressed, and I remembered the Egyptians have enslaved them.” Second, God will take an active role in dealing with Israel’s slavery and oppression. He’s not going to sit around and hope for the best. God is directly intervening.

At this point, the text enters into the main dialogue Moses has with God. Moses will raise 5 objections to God, and God will respond to each objection. At first, Moses will use questions, in the hope that God will realize that Moses can’t, doesn’t or shouldn’t do the job God wants Moses to do. Once Exodus 3 changes over into Exodus 4, Moses will drop the questions format any directly state his objections, possibly because Moses thinks God does not get the hint. The change in format does not shake God, as God still has the perfect retort. Let’s take a look at Moses’s five objections.

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” ~Exodus 3:11&12

With this first question, Moses raises the first objection. Moses lacks self-confidence because he feels inadequate. It is as if Moses is saying, “I’m not sure if you heard, God, I spent the first 40 years of my life as an Egyptian prince. To the people of Israel, as an Egyptian, I was an enemy to them. Now I have spent the past 40 years of my life as a Midian shepherd. To some of the people of Israel, I was just absent, but others, I totally abandoned them. Whether a Egyptian prince or a Midian shepherd, I don’t think I’m a good choice for an Israelite leader. I don’t think any Israelite would want to follow me. You want someone they’ll love and respect, not me. At best, I’m a nobody to them, and at worst, I’m an absent enemy who abandoned them.”

God’s response actually agrees with Moses! Yes, Moses is a nobody. He is nothing. But do you know who is everybody and everything? God is! In the Hebrew language, pronouns are built into the verbs, so pronouns are technically not needed to reveal the subject, so when Hebrew uses the pronouns, it is meant to emphasize the pronouns, whether the subject, direct object or indirect object. Exodus 3:11-12 has both Moses and God using the pronouns. Moses emphasizes the I to downplay himself, while God uses the I to primarily uplift himself and secondarily uplift Moses. With God’s guidance and help, Moses will go from unable to able, from inadequate to adequate and from losing confidence to gaining confidence. Furthermore, the “I will be” of “I will be with you” is the same root as the Lord’s name, which will be revealed in the next part of the dialogue. When God reveals his name, it too will further strengthen the fact that God’s presence with Moses will make Moses complete and will aid Moses in God’s call for his life. For right now, Moses must, in the words of John 3:30, decrease so God can increase. In the same way, when we feel like Moses, when we feel inadequate or not confident in God’s calling for us, while the feelings are negative, it still may be pride. If we have the same respect, humility and servitude in receiving God’s call as when on holy ground, God can take over to empower us. Oh, and for that sign, scholars debate whether the sign refers to the supernatural events that will take place once Moses brings the people of Israel back to Sinai (pillar of cloud, pillar of fire, thunder, lightning, earthquake,  trumpet sound, etc.), the establishment of the Mosaic covenant (sprinkling of blood), the giving of the 10 commandments (both times), or even if the bush will still burn by the times Moses brings the people of Israel back to Sinai (you can almost imagine Moses pointing at the bush and yelling “See? See!”). Either way, God lets Moses know loud and clear that the end goal is to have the Moses return to Sinai with the people of Israel following. If anything, this sign encourages Moses to go back and free Israel sooner, so he can prove himself to them sooner.

13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ 18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” ~Exodus 3:13-22

In one regard, Moses asks an absurd question. As Exodus 6:3 will affirm, God had never revealed his name to humanity up this point. If the people of Israel did ask, “What’s God’s name?” and Moses answered, “Yahweh!” the people of Israel had no way to confirm if Moses was correct or telling the truth. In another regard, Moses inquires an excellent question. Hebrew slaves working from sunrise to sunset really don’t have time for religious instruction. They don’t know about God and who he is. At best, the most religious instruction probably came from one Egyptian taskmaster saying to another, “Boy, Ra sure has given us a glorious sunny day, hasn’t he?” Speaking of which, Moses has received a religious education, but he received Egyptian religious instruction. He probably knows the Egyptian pantheon of gods inside and out, right off the top of his head. Therefore, Moses is less likely asking who is this God, and is more likely asking which God is this? Is this Ra? Is this Isis? Is this Osiris? In yet another regard, even this inquiry comes off sounding like an excuse. Pretty much Moses says here, “I don’t know who you are. Do you really want somebody who doesn’t know you are leading your people? Besides, I don’t think the people of Israel know who you are, either. Do you really want to a people following you that don’t know you?”

Now, plenty of academic articles have been published in scholarly journals on the divine name, so much so that these articles alone could compile to form books! Some scholars emphasize the divine finds its root in the verb היה (hayah), meaning “to be,” which emphasizes his existence as the unique, one-and-only God. Whereas all the gods and goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon need names to distinguish one from another, Yahweh really has no need for a name is because he is the one-and-only God, and there is no other. Which God is Yahweh? He is the God. Other scholars will highlight that parsing the Hebrew conjugation will reveal היה (hayah) as a Qal imperfect, which could have either a present or future tense, which could highlight his eternal state. Yahweh was the God of the past, Yahweh is the God of the present, and Yahweh will be the God of the future. Still yet other scholars point out that, back then, with the ancient Hebrews, they did not have A, E, I, O or U, and so Moses had no vowels he could buy – Wheel of Fortune shows were so dry! For a quick crash course in linguistics, vowels control breathing. What consonants in Hebrew control the breathing, making them the closest to vowels? Yod, hey and vav, the Hebrew letters that make up the divine name. Pastor Rob Bell puts in this way, “The atheist make walk up to you and say, ‘There is no god!’ but in between breaths to say those four words, you can hear, ‘Yod hey vav hey.’” Because the Lord gave us his breath to give us life, we say his name every time we breathe. Something not as much stressed about the divine name, yet very important to the question at hand, comes from  the fact that “to be” can also define one’s ability or capabilities, as in “I am smart” or “I am strong.” The significance of this falls back to Moses’s last objection. Whereas Moses thinks he is unable or incapable, Yahweh responds with he is the one who is able and capable. When Moses asks, “Who am I…” God answers, “I AM.” Likewise, when you’re faced with the challenges Yahweh gives us, and you’re not sure how to overcome them, every time you try to say to the Lord, “I am not…” God will simply reply “I AM.” You may want to declare to the Lord, “Lord, I am not smart enough to solve the problem you have allowed in my life!” and God simply reminds you, “I AM.” You may want to state to the Lord, “Lord, you’ve given me too much to do. I cannot be in all these places at all these times!” and God simply replies, “I AM. You may want to cry out to the Lord, “Lord, I am not strong enough to carry this burden you have given me!” and God responds, “I AM.” You may want tell the Lord, “Lord I strive to be the good, moral leader, like the one Paul told Timothy and Titus to look for, but I am not a shining example for your people to follow!” and God retorts, “I AM.” When you have the omnipresent (everywhere at all times), omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing) and omni-benevolent (all-good) Yahweh on your side, you don’t even need to consider any of your shortcomings!

Of course, Yahweh gives his name in two verses, yet the Lord’s response goes on for another 6 verses! On one hand, this may be God simply trying to get his plan into action, as if he is saying to Moses, “Alright, Moses, I answered your two question, so here’s the plan, and now let’s get a move on right now.” On the other hand, Yahweh revealing his plans may further answer Moses’s question. By revealing his name, the Lord has revealed who he is, as in his attributes, his character, and/or his personality. Now, God wants to reveal himself in Moses in what he does. Look at some of his plan, and how the plan reveals him. Yahweh is a promise keeper, as he will give the people of Israel the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as he promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Lord is a defender of the small and weak. When the mighty Egypt will not let the people of Israel go, the mightier Lord will force them to release the people of Israel with his own strong outstretched hand. God is fair and just in doling out his blessings. It was not morally right for the Egyptians to get rich off of the Hebrews’ free slave labor. Therefore, when the people of Israel leave, they will receive their wages in gold, silver and clothing. While having an audible conversation with God might seem cool, and indeed is, sometimes the Lord revealing himself to you may come in the form of how he moves around in your life.

Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” ~Exodus 4:1-7

At this point, Moses stops asking questions, and he starts making statements. Perhaps he thought that God did not know how to take a hint, so he has to plainly speak his mind.  Now this objection sounds less like an excuse and more like a legitimate objection. Again, Moses has spent the first 40 years as an Egyptian prince, an enemy of Israel, and the middle 40 years as a Midian prince, an absentee who abandoned the people of Israel. Surely the people of Israel will not trust that kind of person. Even if they did listen, would they really believe that a man, who has been out in the hot Midian, who had no witnesses around but the sheep, heard a burning bush tell him to free the people of Israel from slavery? Surely they will say to him, “Moses, I think you got too much sun in Midian, and I think you’ve spent too much time with nobody but sheep. Bushes, whether burning or not, do not talk.”

Again, the Lord concurs with Moses that this objection might present a problem, so he supplies a solution within three signs. First, when Moses throws his staff on the ground, it becomes a serpent, or a snake. Throughout the Ancient Near East, people worshipped snakes, either a god of wisdom, a good of fertility or a god of healing. Snakes probably had such high-held esteem due to the fact the most snakes in the Middle East are venomous. With that in mind, consider how much faith Moses needed when God instructed him, “Catch it by the tail.” If grabbing a snake by its neck, at worst, it will whip you with its tail, and it can do no more. If grabbing a snake by the tail, that snake can whip around, snag a man in the arm with its fangs, resulting in a dead man. Moses must have felt nervous picking up the snake, and he must have felt equally relieved when the snake turned back into a staff. Second, when Moses puts his hand in his cloak, it becomes covered in leprosy, but when he puts it back in, it becomes clean. Leprosy back then was highly contagious and very uncurable. Combine the two, societies quickly ostracized lepers from the community. Here, Moses can put on and take off leprosy like a glove! Again, the anxiety Moses must have felt taking his hand out the first time and seeing leprosy, and the calmness Moses felt after taking his hand out again to see clear skin. Now Yahweh provides Moses with a third sign of pouring Nile water on the dry ground to make blood, which Moses cannot practice here due to his far distance from the Nile. The sign ends up previewing, and possibly even warning, of the first of ten plagues to come. Going back to the first two signs, Moses had to show bravery in order perform these signs.  Not only would these signs demonstrate God appeared to Moses, but they also displayed Moses as a courageous leader. If Moses could pick up a venomous snake by the tail without hesitating, if Moses could put on and take off leprosy without flinching, he could surely stand in front of mighty Pharoah of the strongest Empire, Egypt, and demand for the release of the people of Israel. Likewise, the Lord has equipped you with everything you need for your calling, including the bravery you need. Will you courageously accept it?

10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” ~Exodus 4:10-12

According to Stephen in Acts 7:22b, Moses “was mighty in words,” but in both Exodus 6:12 and 6:30, Moses complains he has uncircumcised lips, which many scholars have interpreted as a strutter. What seems like a contradiction, after thinking about it, makes sense. Historians sometimes call Helen Keller one of the greatest speakers of her time. Such a statement contains a grammatical irony. Because of blindness and deafness, Helen Keller could not speak, yet when she had somebody to interpret her thoughts and words, she “spoke well” in the sense that she had good rhetoric and good logical and reasonable arguments, free of any fallacies. Moses here has a similar problem. Thanks to his Egyptian education, he too probably had enough information and knowledge of the working world to create an argument with good rhetoric. Due to his stuttering problem, when he attempted to vocalize his thoughts, his stutter could make him sound like he lacks confidence. As established already, Moses did lack confidence, which would have made his stuttering worse. Anyone familiar with stuttering (even if from just watching the movie The King’s Speech) will know that stuttering comes from psychological issues, as no baby comes out of the womb stuttering. Perhaps Moses struggling with his ethical identity (is he Hebrew? Is he Egyptian? Is he Midian?).

Again, Yahweh provides a simple response. The Lord leads with rhetorical questions to get Moses thinking, and if Moses for some reason cannot answer those questions, God also provides the answer. Yahweh has created all humans, including Moses. If the Lord created Moses to speak, surely the Lord can fix what the sinful world did to Moses to make him stutter. Once again, the “I will be” in the “I will be your mouth” is that root היה (hayah), the same root of the divine name. Again, the answer lies within the fact God’s omnipotent and omniscient attributes makes up for the inabilities, the incapabilities and the shortcomings of humanity. This paragraph should give comfort to those with physical disabilities, mental disabilities, emotional disabilities and social disabilities. Physical, mental, emotional and social disabilities do not disqualify anyone from service in the kingdom. The Lord can use anybody to serve him, even those with disability. If the disability really gets in the way of God’s call, then God will bring healing or equip the person to overcome it.

13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” 14 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16 He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. 17 And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” ~Exodus 4:13-17

Later on, the book of Exodus will reveal that Yahweh is slow to anger, yet here Moses kindles Yahweh’s anger. If the Lord speaks to Moses from a burning bush, I imagine that the bush flamed up, like pouring gasoline on fire. Surely God has emphasized that his omnipotence and omniscience will make up for Moses’s inadequacies. Yahweh has even directly provided a solution to Moses’s speech problem. Indeed the Lord must feel frustrated at Moses when the Lord offers his unlimited knowledge and power to Moses, yet Moses still refuses the call. At this point, Moses seems more disobedient and less afraid. Nevertheless, God answers the problem again. Just like with Moses, Yahweh will call Aaron to speak. In fact, it works out well. Just as Moses will act as an intermediate between the Lord and Pharaoh, to physically represent this, Aaron will look like an intermediate between Moses and Pharaoh. Furthermore, this plan works because of the brotherhood between Moses and Aaron. During the Christmas season, some people ponder how much Jesus’s first cousins James and John or Jesus’s second cousin John the Baptist understood Jesus’s role as the Christ. Similarly, Aaron always knew Moses as his brother, but he probably never suspected Moses as God’s chosen one to lead the people of Israel into freedom. Still, Yahweh choosing Aaron only makes sense. Aaron knew Moses, and Aaron understood Moses. The Lord’s awesome plan included using those close to Moses to aid Moses. Likewise, sometimes God equipping of a person can include equipping the called person with those close to him or here. This type of equipping could involve family or friends. Most likely and most importantly, this type of equipping involves brothers in Christ, especially those within the church. While Yahweh does not call everybody into leadership, but the Lord does call everyone, and some people’s calling might involve equipping the leader.

To conclude the calling of Moses, as found in Exodus 3:1-4:17, Pastor Rob Bell (early Pastor Rob Bell for those who do not like the current path Bell has chosen) puts it best when he says, “The more Moses tries to convince God he’s not the one, the more God is convinced he is the one.” Once again, such a statement may sound absurd, but upon careful consideration, it does indeed make sense. To kind of sort of turn this conclusion to point back to the introduction, if going in for a job interview, a good interviewee always should ask. By asking questions, the interviewee shows that he or she takes interest in the company, and thus more likely cares about the company. By asking questions, the interviewee demonstrates to the interviewer that he or she wants to know what exactly he or she will do for the job, meaning he or she will less likely flake and quit, resulting in having to undergo the hiring process again. Asking questions displays a candidate who did research before coming in the interviews, thus preparing for the interview, instead of winging it. Whether Moses intended it or not, by asking questions, Moses makes sure God has indeed equipped and prepared Moses for his calling. Moses knows what to expect, and Moses has the answers and the tools. Therefore, the more questions Moses asks, the more God and Moses can work out answers and solutions, and thus, God knows that Moses can do the job.

Finally, the introductions proposed that Yahweh and Moses became friends, even suggesting that the friendship began as early as the calling of Moses. If the body has not made it evident by now, then this conclusion will look toward John 15:15 for more clarification. In John 15:15, Jesus says to his disciples, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” Similarly, Yahweh would not merely call Moses a servant, for if he did, he would not have revealed his plan to Moses. Indeed, the Lord would call Moses a friend, for the Lord lays out his entire plan to Moses. Likewise, whatever God chooses to reveal, whether big or small, whether a lot or a little, he has done to show that his servants are also his friends.

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